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SMGA; Jennings ace at Adobe; women U.S. open in Bay Area; Face of Change

Golf notes

The Sonoma Men’s Golf Association took advantage of the spring-like weather and took on the Rooster Run Golf Club last Sunday, with the format being four-man team best-ball, with one best-ball score counting on the par-5s, two on the par-4s and three on the par-3s. 

Leading the way was the team of Phil Rollins (captain), Martin Bajuk, Steve MacCarthy and Jim Lybrand with their 117 total.

One-shot back was the group of Myron Donesky (captain), Jim Braun, Karl Mayer and Roger Rannikar and the team of Al Rappoport (captain), John Bogardus, Eric Biggs and Tom Martin. After the score-card playoff, Donesky’s team walked away with second place, while Rappoport’s team grabbed third. Another tie was in place for fourth and fifth, with Ted Carrillo and John Dennis having blind partners Donesky and Ron Sharek added to their score for a 123 total, while Mike Gauthier (captain), Sharek, Tony Enz and Bob Jennings also finished with the same score and took home fifth place.

Rollins showed his leadership and one of the reasons his team took home first place by also grabbing the low-gross with an 80, one-shot ahead of the duo of Rappoport and Sharek. 

In closest-to-the-pin action, Karl Mayer’s shot to 4 feet 5 inches on the 118-yard sixth hole was easily the best of the day.

The difficult eighth was no match for Mike Lucas, as he fired his tee-shot to 12-2 on the longest par-3 of the day, 166-yards.

Greg Tellis got in on the act with his shot to 21-4 on the water-guarded 11th, playing 148-yards, while Donesky found the island green on the 15th to his liking, firing his shot to 10-3 from 107 yards. 

The SMGA returns to action on Sunday, March 24, at StoneTree Golf Club in nearby Novato.

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When SMGA member Bob Jennings teed it up at Adobe Creek earlier in February, he didn’t realize that he’d finally achieved a milestone after 53 years of playing golf. 

As he stepped to the fifth tee, he pulled his 9-iron and sent the ball on track with the green and flag, when the ball landed, skipped forward and then rolled into the cup for a hole-in-one. 

Jennings watched the shot from start to finish, along with his playing partners Tony Enz and Peacock Gap head professional Matt Dito. 

It was the first hole-in-one for Jennings, but he’s hoping it won’t take another 53 years until his next.

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Although not official yet, it looks like another national championship is coming to the Bay Area.

This time the USGA is expected to announce that the 2016 United States Women’s Open will be coming to CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, currently the site for the PGA Tour’s Frys.com Open. CordeValle officials confirmed they have extended an invitation to the USGA, and everyone involved expects the announcement to come in the very near future. 

It will be the first time that the USGA has brought the Women’s U.S. Open to the Bay Area, and first time that it will be played in California since 1982. 

The men’s U.S. Open has been played in California on multiple occasions, most recently at the Olympic Club for the fifth time last year. 

Unlike the Olympic Club and its storied history, CordeValle is a newer course, open less than 15 years and designed by famed architect Robert Trent Jones Jr.

The remote location, 25 miles south of San Jose, might seem as strange site for the tournament, but the abundance of parking in the area and the fact that it is close to the Silicon Valley gives the USGA hope that corporate sponsors will welcome them with open arms. 

One LPGA player who is excited at the prospect is Paula Creamer, who grew up in Pleasanton before moving to Florida, and would love to see an event such as this in the Bay Area.

This announcement will add to the list of events coming to the Bay Area in the near future, with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship returning to Harding Park in San Francisco this year and 2015, while the Champions Tour will see the U.S. Senior Open at Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento, also in 2015. Fans of the PGA Tour might see the biggest stars in San Francisco for a playoff event in either 2015 or 2016, while the U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach Golf Links in 2019.

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The ninth annual Face of Change Golf Tournament will be played at Sonoma Golf Club on Monday, April 8, and benefit the El Verano Elementary School, with the field limited to the first 140 participants, and the entry fee for the event is $175 a player, which includes golf and a cart, lunch and a reception and dinner.

There’s also a raffle including excellent prizes, highlighted by a round for four at the Sonoma Golf Club and stays at Fairmont hotels in San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and our own Sonoma Mission Inn, as well as dinners and spa treatments. Those looking to just attend the dinner portion of the event can do so for $50.

The tournament gets underway at 10 a.m. when the driving range opens, with the tourney’s shotgun start set for noon, followed by the reception and raffle at 4:30, with dinner and awards beginning at 6 p.m.

For more information, or to sign up, contact Maite Iturri at El Verano Elementary School, 935-6050.